Scout Sells 17K Boxes of Cookies
Michigan's Jennifer Sharpe Sets Unoffical Scout Cookie Sales Record
A 15-year-old girl from Dearborn, Michigan has sold over 17,328 boxes of Girl Scout cookies. The money made from the sales will be used to finance a trip to Europe.
A girl scout has far surpassed any other girl to sell the most girl scout cookies in history. Jennifer Sharpe from Dearborn, Michigan recently sold 17,328 boxes of cookies. The income generated by this feat will be used to finance the entire troop’s trip to Europe this winter.
The 15-year-old’s troop has set a national record for most cookies sold. No individual sales records have ever been kept, but it is believed that Sharpe has broken this record as well, a goal that she herself has wanted to accomplish as a Girl Scout. The accomplishment has also boosted sales at the two bakeries who supplied the cookies to Sharpe.
How Jennifer Sharpe Did It
Sharpe’s technique consisted of selling cookies every day on the street corner along with help from her mother and troop leader. The demand for the cookies was obviously high among the passersby, some of whom complained when Jenny got sick one day and closed up early.
As a result, Troop 813 raised $21,000 in cookie sales. They plan to use this money to spend 10 days in Europe over the winter. In a previous year, the troop took a trip to the Caribbean on a cruise line. This far surpasses the day trips and weekend camping outings that normal girl scout troops take with their earned cookie sales. It is also said to have made Jenny Sharpe a more confident and outspoken person.
According to their official website, the Girl Scouts have been selling cookies as far back as 1917, five years after the organization was founded. Like now, the money raised from sales was used to finance trips for the troops. Back then, however, the scouts baked their own cookies and sold them to high school cafeterias and to local neighbors.
The History of Girl Scout Cookie Sales
In 1922, a writer for The American Girl magazine published a special recipe which was given out to 2,000 girl scouts in Chicago, Illinois. The ingredients for about seven dozen cookies was estimated to be between 26 to 36 cents around that time, and it was suggested that the cookies could be sold for between 25 to 30 cents per dozen.
The scouts began selling door to door in the 1920’s and 30’s, though the cookies were still homemade. They were typically packaged in wax paper and sealed with a sticker. Today, there are at least eight different types of cookies sold. These are baked at ABC/Interbake Foods and Little Brownie Bakers and sold for between $2.50 and $4.00 per box. The troop earns about 12-17% of each box sold.
